ArthaShastra of Kautilya - Book 2 - Chapter 22 to 36

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Kautilya's Arthashastra

Translated by R. Shamasastry - 1915

CHAPTER XXII. REGULATION OF TOLL-DUES.

· MERCHANDISE, external (báhyam, i.e., arriving from country parts), internal (ábhyantaram, i.e., manufactured inside forts), or foreign (átithyani, i.e., imported from foreign countries) shall all be liable to the payment of toll alike when exported (nishkrámya) and imported (pravésyam).

· Imported commodities shall pay 1/5th of their value as toll.

· Of flower, fruit, vegetables (sáka), roots (múla), bulbous roots (kanda), pallikya (?), seeds, dried fish, and dried meat, the superintendent shall receive 1/6th as toll.

· As regards conch-shells, diamonds, precious stones, pearls, corals, and necklaces, experts acquainted with the time, cost, and finish of the production of such articles shall fix the amount of toll.

· Of fibrous garments (kshauma), cotton cloths (dukúla), silk (krimitána), mail armour (kankata), sulphuret of arsenic (haritála), red arsenic (manassilá), vermilion (hingulaka), metals (lóha), and colouring ingredients (varnadhátu); of sandal, brown sandal (agaru), pungents (katuka), ferments (kinva), dress (ávarana), and the like; of wine, ivory, skins, raw materials used in making fibrous or cotton garments, carpets, curtains (právarana), and products yielded by worms (krimijáta); and of wool and other products yielded by goats and sheep, he shall receive 1/10th or 1/15th as toll.

· Of cloths (vastra), quadrupeds, bipeds, threads, cotton, scents, medicines, wood, bamboo, fibres (valkala), skins, and clay-pots; of grains, oils, sugar (kshára), salt, liquor (madya) cooked rice and the like, he shall receive 1/20th or 1/25th as toll.

· Gate-dues (dvárádeya) shall be 1/5th of toll dues; this tax may be remitted if circumstances necessitate such favour. Commodities shall never be sold where they are grown or manufactured.

· When minerals and other commodities are purchased from mines, a fine of 600 panás shall be imposed.

· When flower or fruits are purchased from flower or fruit gardens, a fine of 54 panas shall be imposed.

· When vegetables, roots, bulbous roots are purchased from vegetable gardens, a fine 51¾ panas shall be imposed.

· When any kind of grass or grain is purchased from field, a fine of 53 panas shall be imposed.

· (Permanent) fines of 1 pana and 1½ panas shall be levied on agricultural produce (sítátyayah).

· Hence in accordance with the customs of countries or of communities, the rate of toll shall be fixed on commodities, either old or new; and fines shall be fixed in proportion to the gravity of offences.

[Thus ends Chapter XXII, "Regulation of Toll-dues," in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents" of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the forty-third chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXIII. SUPERINTENDENT OF WEAVING.

· THE Superintendent of Weaving shall employ qualified persons to manufacture threads (sútra), coats (varma), cloths (vastra), and ropes.

· Widows, cripple women, girls, mendicant or ascetic women (pravrajitá), women compelled to work in default of paying fines (dandápratikáriní), mothers of prostitutes, old women-servants of the king, and prostitutes (devadási) who have ceased to attend temples on service shall be employed to cut wool, fibre, cotton, panicle (túla), hemp, and flax.

· Wages shall be fixed according as the threads spun are fine, coarse (sthúla, i.e., big) or of middle quality and in proportion to a greater or less quantity manufactured, and in consideration of the quantity of thread spun, those (who turn out a greater quantity) shall be presented with oil and dried cakes of myrobalan fruits (tailámalakódvartanaih).

· They may also be made to work on holidays (tithishu) by payment of special rewards (prativápadánamánaih).

· Wages shall be cut short, if making allowance for the quality of raw material, the quantity of the threads spun out is found to fall short.

· Weaving may also be done by those artisans who are qualified to turn out a given amount of work in a given time and for a fixed amount of wages.

· The superintendent shall closely associate with the workmen.

· Those who manufacture fibrous cloths, raiments, silk-cloths, woollen cloths, and cotton fabrics shall be rewarded by presentations such as scents, garlands of flowers, or any other prizes of encouragement.

· Various kinds of garments, blankets, and curtains shall be manufactured.

· Those who are acquainted with the work shall manufacture mail armour.

· Those women who do not stir out of their houses (anishkásinyah), those whose husbands are gone abroad, and those who are cripple or girls may, when obliged to work for subsistence, be provided with work (spinning out threads) in due courtesy through the medium of maid-servants (of the weaving establishment.)

· Those women who can present themselves at the weaving house shall at dawn be enabled to exchange their spinnings for wages (bhándavetanavinimayam). Only so much light as is enough to examine the threads shall be kept. If the superintendent looks at the face of such women or talks about any other work, he shall be punished with the first amercement. Delay in paying the wages shall be punished with the middlemost amercement. Likewise when wages are paid for work that is not completed.

· She who, having received wages, does not turn out the work shall have her thumb cut off.

· Those who misappropriate, steal, or run away with, (the raw material supplied to them) shall be similarly punished.

· Weavers, when guilty, shall be fined out of their wages in proportion to their offences.

· The superintendent shall closely associate with those who manufacture ropes and mail armour and shall carry on the manufacture of straps (varatra) and other commodities.

· He shall carry on the manufacture of ropes from threads and fibres and of straps from cane and bamboo bark, with which beasts for draught are trained or tethered.

[Thus ends Chapter XXIII, "The Superintendent of Weaving" in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the forty-fourth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXIV. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF AGRICULTURE.

· POSSESSED of the knowledge of the science of agriculture dealing with the plantation of bushes and trees (krishitantragulmavrikshsháyurvedajñah), or assisted by those who are trained in such sciences, the superintendent of agriculture shall in time collect the seeds of all kinds of grains, flowers, fruits, vegetables, bulbous roots, roots, pállikya (?), fibre-producing plants, and cotton.

· He shall employ slaves, labourers, and prisoners (dandapratikartri) to sow the seeds on crown-lands which have been often and satisfactorily ploughed.

· The work of the above men shall not suffer on account of any want in ploughs (karshanayantra) and other necessary instruments or of bullocks. Nor shall there be any delay in procuring to them the assistence of blacksmiths, carpenters, borers (medaka), ropemakers, as well as those who catch snakes, and similar persons.

· Any loss due to the above persons shall be punished with a fine equal to the loss.

· The quantity of rain that falls in the country of jángala is 16 dronas; half as much more in moist countries (anúpánám); as to the countries which are fit for agriculture (désavápánam);--13½ dronas in the country of asmakas; 23 dronas in avantí; and an immense quantity in western countries (aparántánám), the borders of the Himalayas, and the countries where water channels are made use of in agriculture (kulyávápánám).

· When one-third of the requisite quantity of rain falls both during the commencement and closing months of the rainy season and two-thirds in the middle, then the rainfall is (considered) very even (sushumárúpam).

· A forecast of such rainfall can be made by observing the position, motion, and pregnancy (garbhádána) of the Jupiter (Brihaspati), the rise and set and motion of the Venus, and the natural or unnatural aspect of the sun.

· From the sun, the sprouting of the seeds can be inferred; from (the position of) the Jupiter, the formation of grains (stambakarita) can be inferred; and from the movements of the Venus, rainfall can be inferred.

· Three are the clouds that continuously rain for seven days; eighty are they that pour minute drops; and sixty are they that appear with the sunshine--this is termed rainfall. Where rain, free from wind and unmingled with sunshine, falls so as to render three turns of ploughing possible, there the reaping of good harvest is certain.

· Hence, i.e., according as the rainfall is more or less, the superintendent shall sow the seeds which require either more or less water.

· Sáli (a kind of rice), vríhi (rice), kodrava (Paspalum Scrobiculatum), tila (sesamum), priyangu (panic seeds), dáraka (?), and varaka (Phraseolus Trilobus) are to be sown at the commencement (púrvávápah) of the rainy season.

· Mudga (Phraseolus Mungo), másha (Phraseolus Radiatus), and saibya (?) are to be sown in the middle of the season.

· Kusumbha (safflower), masúra (Ervum Hirsutum), kuluttha (Dolichos Uniflorus), yava (barley), godhúma (wheat), kaláya (leguminus seeds), atasi (linseed), and sarshapa (mustard) are to be sown last.

· Or seeds may be sown according to the changes of the season.

· Fields that are left unsown (vápátiriktam, i.e., owing to the inadequacy of hands) may be brought under cultivation by employing those who cultivate for half the share in the produce (ardhasítiká); or those who live by their own physical exertion (svavíryopajívinah) may cultivate such fields for ¼th or 1/5th of the produce grown; or they may pay (to the king) as much as they can without entailing any hardship upon themselves (anavasitam bhágam), with the exception of their own private lands that are difficult to cultivate.

· Those who cultivate irrigating by manual labour (hastaprávartimam) shall pay 1/5th of the produce as water-rate (udakabhágam); by carrying water on shoulders (skandhaprávartimam) ¼th of the produce; by water-lifts (srotoyantraprávartimam), ⅓rd of the produce; and by raising water from rivers, lakes, tanks, and wells (nadisarastatákakúpodghátam),⅓rd or ¼th of the produce.

· The superintendent shall grow wet crops (kedára), winter-crops (haimana), or summer crops (graishmika) according to the supply of workmen and water.

· Rice-crops and the like are the best (jyáshtha, i.e., to grow); vegetables (shanda) are of intermediate nature; and sugarcane crops (ikshu) are the worst (pratyavarah, i.e., very difficult to grow), for they are subject to various evils and require much care and expenditure to reap.

· Lands that are beaten by foam (phenághátah, i.e., banks of rivers, etc.) are suitable for growing vallíphala (pumpkin, gourd and the like); lands that are frequently overflown by water (paríváhánta) for long pepper, grapes (mridvíká), and sugarcane; the vicinity of wells for vegetables and roots; low grounds (hariníparyantáh) for green crops; and marginal furrows between any two rows of crops are suitable for the plantation of fragrant plants, medicinal herbs, cascus roots (usínara), híra (?), beraka (?), and pindáluka (lac) and the like.

· Such medicinal herbs as grow in marshy grounds are to be grown not only in grounds suitable for them, but also in pots (sthályam).

· The seeds of grains are to be exposed to mist and heat (tushárapáyanamushnam cha) for seven nights; the seeds of kosi are treated similarly for three nights; the seeds of sugarcane and the like (kándabíjánam) are plastered at the cut end with the mixture of honey, clarified butter, the fat of hogs, and cowdung; the seeds of bulbous roots (kanda) with honey and clarified butter; cotton seeds (asthibíja) with cow-dung; and water pits at the root of trees are to be burnt and manured with the bones and dung of cows on proper occasions.

· The sprouts of seeds, when grown, are to be manured with a fresh haul of minute fishes and irrigated with the milk of snuhi (Euphorbia Antiquorum).

· Where there is the smoke caused by burning the essence of cotton seeds and the slough of a snake, there snakes will not stay.

· Always while sowing seeds, a handful of seeds bathed in water with a piece of gold shall be sown first and the following mantra recited:--

“Prajápatye Kasyapáya déváya namah.
Sadá Sítá medhyatám déví bíjéshu cha
dhanéshu cha. Chandaváta hé."

“Salutation to God Prajápati Kasyapa. Agriculture may always flourish and the Goddess (may reside) in seeds and wealth. Channdavata he."

· Provisions shall be supplied to watchmen, slaves and labourers in proportion to the amount of work done by them.

· They shall be paid a pana-and-a-quarter per mensem. Artisans shall be provided with wages and provision in proportion to the amount of work done by them.

· Those that are learned in the Vedas and those that are engaged in making penance may take from the fields ripe flowers and fruits for the purpose of worshipping their gods, and rice and barley for the purpose of performing ágrayana, a sacrificial performance at the commencement of harvest season, also those who live by gleaning grains in fields may gather grains where grains had been accumulated and removed from.

· Grains and other crops shall be collected as often as they are harvested. No wise man shall leave anything in the fields, nor even chaff. Crops, when reaped, shall be heaped up in high piles or in the form of turrets. The piles of crops shall not be kept close, nor shall their tops be small or low. The threshing floors of different fields shall be situated close to each other. Workmen in the fields shall always have water but no fire.

[Thus ends Chapter XXIV, “The Superintendent of Agriculture” in Book II, “The Duties of Government Superintendents” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the forty-fifth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXV. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF LIQUOR.

· BY employing such men as are acquainted with the manufacture of liquor and ferments (kinva), the Superintendent of Liquor shall carry on liquor-traffic not only in forts and country parts, but also in camps.

· In accordance with the requirements of demand and supply (krayavikrayavasena) he may either centralize or decentralize the sale of liquor.

· A fine of 600 panas shall be imposed on all offenders other than those who are manufacturers, purchasers, or sellers in liquor-traffic.

· Liquor shall not be taken out of villages, nor shall liquor shops be close to each other.

· Lest workmen spoil the work in hand, and Aryas violate their decency and virtuous character, and lest firebrands commit indiscreet acts, liquor shall be sold to persons of well known character in such small quantities as one-fourth or half-a-kudumba, one kudumba, half-a-prastha, or one prastha. Those who are well known and of pure character may take liquor out of shop.

· Or all may be compelled to drink liquor within the shops and not allowed to stir out at once in view of detecting articles such as sealed deposits, unsealed deposits, commodities given for repair, stolen articles, and the like which the customer's may have acquired by foul means. When they are found to possess gold and other articles not their own, the superintendent shall contrive to cause them to be arrested outside the shop. Likewise those who are too extravagant or spend beyond their income shall be arrested.

· No fresh liquor other than bad liquor shall be sold below its price. Bad liquor may be sold elsewhere or given to slaves or workmen in lieu of wages; or it may form the drink of beasts for draught or the subsistence of hogs.

· Liquor shops shall contain many rooms provided with beds and seats kept apart. The drinking room shall contain scents, garlands of flowers, water, and other comfortable things suitable to the varying seasons.

· Spies stationed in the shops shall ascertain whether the expenditure incurred by customers in the shop is ordinary or extraordinary and also whether there are any strangers. They shall also ascertain the value of the dress, ornaments, and gold of the customers lying there under intoxication.

· When customers under intoxication lose any of their things, the merchants of the shop shall not only make good the loss, but also pay an equivalent fine.

· Merchants seated in half-closed rooms shall observe the appearance of local and foreign customers who, in real or false guise of Aryas lie down in intoxication along with their beautiful mistresses.

· Of various kinds of liquor such as medaka, prasanna, ásava, arista, maireya, and madhu:--

· Medaka is manufactured with one drona of water, half, an ádaka of rice, and three prastha of kinva (ferment).

· Twelve ádhakas of flour (pishta), five prasthas of kinva (ferment), with the addition of spices (játisambhára) together with the bark and fruits of putraká (a species of tree) constitute prasanná.

· One-hundred palas of kapittha (Feronia Elephantum) 500 palas of phánita (sugar), and one prastha of honey (madhu) form ásava.

· With an increase of one-quarter of the above ingredients, a superior kind of ásava is manufactured; and when the same ingredients are lessened to the extent of one-quarter each, it becomes of an inferior quality.

· The preparation of various kinds of arishta for various diseases are to be learnt from physicians.

· A sour gruel or decoction of the bark of meshasringi (a kind of poison) mixed with jaggery (guda) and with the powder of long pepper and black pepper or with the powder of triphala (1 Terminalia Chebula, 2 Terminalia Bellerica, and 3 Phyllanthus Emblica) forms Maireya.

· To all kinds of liquor mixed with jaggery, the powder of triphala is always added.

· The juice of grapes is termed madhu. Its own native place (svadesa) is the commentary on such of its various forms as kápisáyana and hárahúraka.

· One drona of either boiled or unboiled paste of másha (Phraseolus Radiatus), three parts more of rice, and one karsha of morata (Alangium Hexapetalum) and the like form kinva (ferment).

· In the manufacture of medaka and prasanna, five karshas of the powder of (each of páthá (Clypea Hermandifolio), lodhra (Symplocos Racemosa), tejovati (Piper Chaba), eláváluka (Solanum Melongena) honey, the juice of grapes (madhurasa), priyangu (panic seeds), dáruharidra (a species of turmeric) black pepper and long pepper are added as sambhára, requisite spices.

· The decoction of madhúka (Bassia Latifolia) mixed with granulated sugar (katasarkará), when added to prasanna, gives it a pleasing colour.

· The requisite quantity of spices to be added to ásava is one karshá of the powder of each of chocha (bark of cinnamon), chitraka (Plumbago Zeylanica), vilanga, and gajapippalí (Scindapsus Officinalis), and two karshas of the powder of each of kramuka (betel nut), madhúka (Bassia Latifolia), mustá (Cyprus Rotundus), and lodhra (Symlocos Racemosa).

· The addition of one-tenth of the above ingredients (i.e., chocha, kramuka, etc.), is (termed) bíjabandha.

· The same ingredients as are added to prasanná are also added to white liquor (svetasurá).

· The liquor that is manufactured from mango fruits (sahakárasurá) may contain a greater proportion of mango essence (rasottara), or of spices (bíjottara). It is called mahásura when it contains sambhára (spices as described above).

· When a handful (antarnakho mushtih, i.e., so much as can be held in the hand, the fingers being so bent that the nails cannot be seen) of the powder of granulated sugar dissolved in the decoction of moratá (Alangium Hexapetalum), palása (Butea Frondosa), dattúra (Dattura Fastuosa), karanja (Robinia Mitis), meshasringa (a kind of poison) and the bark of milky trees (kshiravriksha) mixed with one-half of the paste formed by combining the powders of lodhra (Symplocos Racemosa), chitraka (Plumbago Zeylanica), vilanga, páthá (clypea Hermandifolia), mustá (cyprus Rotundus), kaláya (leguminous seeds), dáruharidra (Amonum Xanthorrhizon), indívara (blue lotus), satapushpa (Anethum Sowa), apámárga (Achyranthes Aspera) saptaparna (Echites Scholaris), and nimba (Nimba Melia) is added to (even) a kumbha of liquor payable by the king, it renders it very pleasant. Five palas of phánita (sugar) are added to the above in order to increase its flavour.

· On special occasions (krityeshu), people (kutumbinah, i.e., families) shall be allowed to manufacture white liquor (svetasura), arishta for use in diseases, and other kinds of liquor.

· On the occasions of festivals, fairs (samája), and pilgrimage, right of manufacture of liquor for four days (chaturahassaurikah) shall be allowed.

· The Superintendent shall collect the daily fines (daivasikamatyayam, i.e., license fees) from those who on these occasions are permitted to manufacture liquor.

· Women and children shall collect ‘sura,’ and ‘kinva,’ ‘ferment.’

· Those who deal with liquor other than that of the king shall pay five percent as toll.

· With regard to sura, medaka, arishta, wine, phalámla (acid drinks prepared from fruits), and ámlasídhu (spirit distilled from molasses):--

· Having ascertained the day's sale of the above kinds of liquor, the difference of royal and public measures (mánavyáji), and the excessive amount of sale proceeds realised thereby, the Superintendent shall fix the amount of compensation (vaidharana) due to the king (from local or foreign merchants for entailing loss on the king's liquor traffic) and shall always adopt the best course.

[Thus ends Chapter XXV, "The Superintendent of Liquor" in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents," of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the forty-sixth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXVI. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SLAUGHTER-HOUSE.

· WHEN a person entraps, kills, or molests deer, bison, birds, and fish which are declared to be under State protection or which live in forests under State-protection (abhayáranya), he shall be punished with the highest amercement.

· Householders trespassing in forest preserves shall be punished with the middlemost amercement.

· When a person entraps, kills, or molests either fish or birds that do not prey upon other animals, he shall be fined 26¾ panas; and when he does the same to deer and other beasts, he shall be fined twice as much.

· Of beasts of prey that have been captured, the Superintendent shall take one-sixth; of fish and birds (of similar nature), he shall take one-tenth or more than one-tenth; and of deer and other beasts (mrigapasu), one-tenth or more than one-tenth as toll.

· One-sixth of live animals such as birds and beasts shall be let off in forests under State-protection.

· Elephants, horses or animals having the form of a man, bull or an ass living in oceans as well as fish in tanks, lakes, channels and rivers; and such game-birds as krauncha (a kind of heron), utkrosaka (osprey), dátyúha (a sort of cuckoo), hamsa (flamingo), chakraváka (a brahmany duck), jivanjívaka (a kind of pheasant), bhringarája (Lanius Malabaricus), chakora (partridge), mattakokila (cuckoo), peacock, parrot, and maina (madanasárika) as well as other auspicious animals, whether birds or beasts, shall be protected from all kinds of molestations.

· Those who violate the above rule shall be punished with the first amercement.

· (Butchers) shall sell fresh and boneless flesh of beasts (mrigapasu) just killed.

· If they sell bony flesh, they shall give an equivalent compensation (pratipákam).

· If there is any diminution in weight owing to the use of a false balance, they shall give eight times the diminution.

· Cattle such as a calf, a bull, or a milch cow shall not be slaughtered.

· He who slaughters or tortures them to death shall be fined 50 panas.

· The flesh of animals which have been killed outside the slaughter-house (parisúnam), headless, legless and boneless flesh, rotten flesh, and the flesh of animals which have suddenly died shall not be sold. Otherwise a fine of 12 panas shall be imposed.

· Cattle, wild beasts, elephants (vyala), and fish living in forests under State protection shall, if they become of vicious nature, be entrapped and killed outside the forest preserve.

[Thus ends Chapter XXVI, "The Superintendent of Slaughter-house" in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents" of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the forty-seventh chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXVII. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PROSTITUTES.

· THE Superintendent of Prostitutes shall employ (at the king's court) on a salary of 1,000 panas (per annum) a prostitute (ganiká), whether born or not born of a prostitute's family, and noted for her beauty, youth, and accomplishments.

· A rival prostitute (pratiganiká) on half the above salary (kutumbárdhéna) shall also be appointed.

· Whenever such a prostitute goes abroad or dies, her daughter or sister shall act for her and receive her property and salary. Or her mother may substitute another prostitute. In the absence of any of these, the king himself shall take the property.

· With a view to add to the splendour of prostitutes holding the royal umbrella, golden pitcher, and fan, and attending upon the king seated on his royal litter, throne, or chariot, prostitutes shall be classified as of first, middle and highest rank according to their beauty and splendid jewellery; likewise their salary shall be fixed by thousands.

· She who has lost her beauty shall be appointed as a nurse (mátriká).

· A prostitute shall pay 24,000 panas as ransom to regain her liberty; and a prostitute's son 12,000 panas.

· From the age of eight years, a prostitute shall hold musical performance before the king.

· Those prostitutes, female slaves, and old women who are incapable of rendering any service in the form of enjoyment (bhagnabhogáh) shall work in the storehouse or kitchen of the king.

· A prostitute who, putting herself under the protection of a private person, ceases to attend the king's court shall pay a pana-and-a-quarter per mensem (to the Government).

· The superintendent shall determine the earnings, inheritance, income (áya), expenditure, and future earnings (áyati) of every prostitute.

· He shall also check their extravagant expenditure.

· When a prostitute puts her jewellery in the hands of any person but her mother, she shall be fined 4¼ panas.

· If she sells or mortgages her property (svapateyam), she shall be fined 50¼ panas.

· A prostitute shall be fined 24 panas for defamation; twice as much for causing hurt; and 50¼ panas as well as 1½ panas for cutting off the ear (of any person).

· When a man has connection with a prostitute against her will or with a prostitute girl (kumári), he shall be punished with the highest amercement. But when he has connection with a willing prostitute, (under age), he shall be punished with the first amercement.

· When a man keeps under confinement, or abducts, a prostitute against her will, or disfigures her by causing hurt, he shall be fined 1,000 panas or more rising up to twice the amount of her ransom (nishkraya) according to the circumstances of the crime and the position and the status of the prostitute (sthánaviseshena).

· When a man causes hurt to a prostitute appointed at the court (praptádhikáram), he shall be fined thrice the amount of her ransom.

· When a man causes hurt to a prostitute's mother, to her young daughter, or to a rúpadási, he shall be punished with the highest amercement.

· In all cases of offences, punishment for offences committed for the first time shall be the first amercement; twice as much for offences committed for a second time; thrice as much for the third time; and for offences committed for the fourth time, the king may impose any punishment he likes.

· When a prostitute does not yield her person to any one under the orders of the king, she shall receive 1000 lashes with a whip or pay a fine of 5,000 panas.

· When having received the requisite amount of fees, a prostitute dislikes to yield her person, she shall be fined twice the amount of the fees.

· When, in her own house, a prostitute deprives her paramour of his enjoyment, she shall be fined eight times the amount of the fees unless the paramour happens to be unassociable on account of disease and personal defects.

· When a prostitute murders her paramour, she shall be burnt alive or thrown into water.

· When a paramour steals the jewellery or money of, or deceives to pay the fees due to, a prostitute, he shall be fined eight times that amount.

· Every prostitute shall supply information to the superintendent as to the amount of her daily fees (bhoga), her future income (áyati), and the paramour (under her influence).

· The same rules shall apply to an actor, dancer, singer, player on musical instruments, a buffoon (vágjivana), a mimic player (kusílava), rope-dancer (plavaka), a juggler (saubhika), a wandering bard or herald (chárana), pimps, and unchaste women.

· When persons of the above description come from foreign countries to hold their performances, they shall pay 5 panas as license fee (prekshávetana).

· Every prostitute (rúpájivá) shall pay every month twice the amount of a day's earning (bhogadvigunam) to the Government.

· Those who teach prostitutes, female slaves, and actresses, arts such as singing, playing on musical instruments, reading, dancing, acting, writing, painting, playing on the instruments like vina, pipe, and drum, reading the thoughts of others, manufacture of scents and garlands, shampooing, and the art of attracting and captivating the mind of others shall be endowed with maintenance from the State.

· They (the teachers) shall train the sons of prostitutes to be chief actors (rangopajívi) on the stage.

· The wives of actors and others of similar profession who have been taught various languages and the use of signals (sanja) shall, along with their relatives, be made use of in detecting the wicked and murdering or deluding foreign spies.

[Thus ends Chapter XXVII, "The Superintendent of Prostitutes" in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents," of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the forty-eighth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SHIPS.

· THE Superintendent of Ships shall examine the accounts relating to navigation not only on oceans and mouths of rivers, but also on lakes natural or artificial, and rivers in the vicinity of stháníya and other fortified cities.

· Villages on seashores or on the banks of rivers and lakes shall pay a fixed amount of tax (kliptam).

· Fishermen shall give 1/6th of their haul as fees for fishing license (naukáhátakam).

· Merchants shall pay the customary toll levied in port-towns.

· Passengers arriving on board the king's ship shall pay the requisite amount of sailing fees (yátrávetanam).

· Those (who make use of the king’s boats in) fishing out conch-shells and pearls shall pay the requisite amount of hire (Naukáhátakam), or they may make use of their own boats.

· The duties of the superintendent of mines will explain those of the superintendent of conch-shells and pearls.

· The superintendent of ships shall strictly observe the customs prevalent in commercial towns as well as the orders of the superintendent of towns (pattana, port town).

· Whenever a weatherbeaten ship arrives at a port-town, he shall show fatherly kindness to it.

· Vessels carrying on merchandise spoiled by water may either be exempted from toll or may have their toll reduced to half and let to sail when the time for setting sail approaches.

· Ships that touch at harbours on their way may be requested the payment of toll.

· Pirate ships (himsríká), vessels which are bound for the country of an enemy, as well as those which have violated the customs and rules in force in port towns shall be destroyed.

· In those large rivers which cannot be forded even during the winter and summer seasons, there shall be launched large boats (mahánávah) provided with a captain (sásaka), a steersman (niyámaka), and servants to hold the sickle and the ropes and to pour out water.

· Small boats shall be launched in those small rivers which overflow during the rainy season.

· Fording or crossing the rivers (without permission) shall be prohibited lest traitors may cross them (and escape).

· When a person fords or crosses a river outside the proper place and in unusual times, he shall be punished with the first amercement.

· When a man fords or crosses a river at the usual place and time without permission, he shall be fined 26¾ panas.

· Fishermen, carriers of firewood, grass, flowers, and fruits, gardeners, vegetable-dealers, and herdsmen, persons pursuing suspected criminals, messengers following other messengers going in advance, servants engaged to carry things, provisions, and orders to the army, those who use their own ferries, as well as those who supply villages of marshy districts with seeds, necessaries of life, commodities and other accessary things shall be exempted (to cross rivers at any time and place).

· Bráhmans, ascetics (pravrajita), children, the aged, the afflicted, royal messengers, and pregnant women shall be provided by the superintendent with free passes to cross rivers.

· Foreign merchants who have often been visiting the country as well as those who are well known to local merchants shall be allowed to land in port-towns.

· Any person who is abducting the wife or daughter of another, one who is carrying off the wealth of another, a suspected person, one who seems to be of perturbed appearance, one who has no baggage, one who attempts to conceal, or evade the cognisance of the valuable load in one's hand, one who has just put on a different garb, one who has removed or renounced one's usual garb, one who has just turned out an ascetic, one who pretends to be suffering from disease, one who seems to be alarmed, one who is stealthily carrying valuable things, or going on a secret mission, or carrying weapons or explosives (agniyoga), one who holds poison in one's hand, and one who has come from a long distance without a pass shall all be arrested.

· A minor quadruped as well as a man carrying some load shall pay one másha.

· A head-load, a load carried on shoulders (káyabhárah), a cow, and a horse shall each pay 2 máshas.

· A camel and a buffalo shall each pay 4 máshas.

· A small cart (laghuyána) 5 máshas; and a cart (of medium size) drawn by bulls (golingam) shall pay 6 máshas and a big cart (sakata) 7 máshas.

· A head-load of merchandise ¼ másha; this explains other kinds of loads. In big rivers, ferry-fees are double the above. Villages near marshy places shall give (to the ferry-men) the prescribed amount of food-stuff and wages.

· In boundaries, ferry-men shall receive the toll, carriage-cess, and road-cess. They shall also confiscate the property of the person travelling without a pass. The Superintendent of Boats shall make good the loss caused by the loss of the boat due to the heavy load, sailing in improper time or place, want of ferry-men, or lack of repair. Boats should be launched between the months of Ashádha, the first seven days being omitted, and Kártika; the evidence of a ferryman should be given and the daily income should be remitted.

[Thus ends Chapter XXVIII, “The Superintendent of Ships” in Book II, “The Duties of Government Superintendents” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the forty-ninth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXIX. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF COWS.

· THE Superintendent of cows shall supervise (1) herds maintained for wages (vétanópagráhikam), (2) herds surrendered for a fixed amount of dairy produce (karapratikara), (3) useless and abandoned herds (bhagnotsrishtakam), (4) herds maintained for a share in dairy produce (bhágánupravishtam), (5) classes of herds (vrajaparyagram), (6) cattle that strayed (nashtam), (7) cattle that are irrecoverably lost (vinashtam), and (8) the amassed quantity of milk and clarified butter.

· (1) When a cowherd, a buffalo-herdsman, a milker, a churner, and a hunter (lubdhaka) fed by wages graze milch cows (dhenu) in hundreds (satam satam)--for if they graze the herds for the profit of milk and ghi, they will starve the calves to death,--that system of rearing the cattle is termed ‘herds maintained for wages.’

· (2) When a single person rears a hundred heads (rúpasatam) made up of equal numbers of each of aged cows, milch cows, pregnant cows, heifers, and calves (vatsatari) and gives (to the owner) 8 várakas of clarified butter per annum, as well as the branded skin (of dead cows if any), that system is called ‘herds surrendered for a fixed amount of dairy produce.’

· (3) When those who rear a hundred heads made up of equal numbers of each of afflicted cattle, crippled cattle, cattle that cannot be milked by any one but the accustomed person, cattle that are not easily milked, and cattle that kill their own calves give in return (to the owner) a share in dairy produce, it is termed ‘useless and abandoned herd.’

· (4) When under the fear of cattle-lifting enemies (parachakrátavibhayát), cattle are kept under the care of the superintendent, giving him 1/10th of the dairy produce for his protection, it is termed "herds maintained for a share in dairy produce."

· (5) When the superintendent classifies cattle as calves, steers, tameable ones, draught oxen, bulls that are to be trained to yoke, bulls kept for crossing cows, cattle that are fit only for the supply of flesh, buffaloes and draught buffaloes; female calves, female steer, heifer, pregnant cows, milch cattle, barren cattle---either cows or buffaloes; calves that are a month or two old as well as those which are still younger; and when, as he ought to, he brands them all inclusive of their calves of one or two months old along with those stray cattle which have remained unclaimed in the herds for a month or two; and when he registers the branded marks, natural marks, colour and the distance from one horn to another of each of the cattle, that system is known as ‘class of herds.’

· (6) When an animal is carried off by thieves or finds itself into the herds of others or strays unknown, it is called ‘lost.’

· (7) When an animal is entangled in a quagmire or precipice or dies of disease or of old age, or drowned in water: or when it is killed by the fall of a tree or of river bank, or is beaten to death with a staff or stone, or is struck by lightening (ísána), or is devoured by a tiger or bitten by a cobra, or is carried off by a crocodile, or is involved in the midst of a forest fire, it is termed as “irrecoverably lost.”

· Cowherds shall endeavour to keep them away from such dangers.

· Whoever hurts or causes another to hurt, or steals or causes another to steal a cow, should be slain.

· When a person substitutes an animal (rúpa) bearing the royal brand mark for a private one, he shall be punished with the first amercement.

· When a person recovers a local cattle from thieves, he shall receive the promised reward (panitam rúpam); and when a man rescues a foreign cattle (from thieves), he shall receive half its value.

· Cowherds shall apply remedies to calves or aged cows or cows suffering from diseases.

· They shall graze the herds in forests which are severally allotted as pasture grounds for various seasons and from which thieves, tigers and other molesting beasts are driven away by hunters aided by their hounds.

· With a view to scare out snakes and tigers and as a definite means of knowing the whereabouts of herds, sounding bells shall be attached to (the neck of) timid cattle.

· Cowherds shall allow their cattle to enter into such rivers or lakes as are of equal depth all round, broad, and free from mire and crocodiles, and shall protect them from dangers under such circumstances.

· Whenever an animal is caught hold of by a thief, a tiger, a snake, or a crocodile, or when it is too infirm owing to age or disease, they shall make a report of it; otherwise they shall be compelled to make good the loss.

· When an animal dies a natural death, they shall surrender the skin with the brand mark, if it is a cow or a buffalo; the skin together with the ear (karnalakshanam) if it is a goat or sheep; the tail with the skin containing the brand mark, if it is an ass or a camel; the skin, if it is a young one; besides the above, (they shall also restore) the fat (vasti), bile, marrow (snáyu), teeth, hoofs, horns, and bones.

· They (the cowherds) may sell either fresh flesh or dried flesh.

· They shall give buttermilk as drink to dogs and hogs, and reserve a little (buttermilk) in a bronze vessel to prepare their own dish: they may also make use of coagulated milk or cheese (kíláta) to render their oilcakes relishing (ghánapinyáka-kledartha).

· He who sells his cow (from among the herds) shall pay (to the king) ¼th rúpa (value of the cow).

· During the rainy, autumnal, and the first part of winter (hemanta) seasons, they shall milk the cattle both the times (morning and evening); and during the latter part of winter and the whole of the spring and summer seasons, they shall milk only once (i.e., only in the morning). The cowherd who milks a cow a second time during these seasons shall have his thumb cut off.

· If he allows the time of milking to lapse, he shall forfeit the profit thereof (i.e., the milk).

· The same rule shall hold good in case of negligence of the opportune moment for putting a string through the nose of a bull and other animals, and for taming or training them to the yoke.

· One drona of a cow's milk will, when churned, yield one prastha of butter; the same quantity of a buffalo's milk will yield 1/7th prastha more; and the same quantity of milk of goats and sheep will produce ½ prastha more.

· In all kinds of milk, the exact quantity of butter shall be ascertained by churning; for increase in the supply of milk and butter depends on the nature of the soil and the quantity and quality of fodder and water.

· When a person causes a bull attached to a herd to fight with another bull, he shall be punished with the first amercement; when a bull is injured (under such circumstances), he shall be punished with the highest amercement.

· Cattle shall be grouped in herds of ten each of similar colour, while they are being grazed.

· According to the protective strength of the cowherds the capacity of the cattle to go far and wide to graze, cowherds shall take their cattle either far or near.

· Once in six months, sheep and other animals shall be shorn of their wool.

· The same rules shall apply to herds of horses, asses, camels, and hogs.

· For bulls which are provided with nose-rings, and which equal horses in speed and in carrying loads, half a bhára of meadow grass (yavasa), twice the above quantity of ordinary grass (trina), one tulá (100 palas) of oil cakes, 10 ádhakas of bran, 5 palas of salt (mukhalavanam), one kudumba of oil for rubbing over the nose (nasya), 1 prastha of drink (pána), one tulá of flesh, 1 ádhaka of curis, 1 drona of barley or of cooked másha (Phraseolus Radiatus), 1 drona of milk; or half an ádhaka of surá (liquor), 1 prastha of oil or ghi (sneha) 10 palas of sugar or jaggery, 1 pala of the fruit of sringibera (ginger) may be substituted for milk (pratipána).

· The same commodities less by one quarter each will form the diet for mules, cows, and asses; twice the quantity of the above things for buffaloes and camels.

· Draught oxen and cows, supplying milk (payah), shall be provided with subsistence in proportion to the duration of time the oxen are kept at work, and the quantity of milk which the cows supply.

· All cattle shall be supplied with abundance of fodder and water.

· Thus the manner of rearing herds of cattle has been dealt with.

· A herd of 100 heads of asses and mules shall contain 5 male animals; that of goats and sheep ten; and a herd of ten heads of either cows or buffaloes shall contain four male animals.

[Thus ends Chapter XXIX, "The Superintendent of Cows” in Book II, “The Duties of Government Superintendents” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the fiftieth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXX. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF HORSES.

· THE Superintendent of Horses shall register the breed, age, colour, marks, group or classes, and the native place of horses, and classify as (1) those that are kept in sale-house for sale (panyágárikam), (2) those that are recently purchased (krayopágatam), (3) those that have been captured in wars (áhavalabdham), (4) those that are of local breed (ájátam), (5) those that are sent thither for help (sáháyyakágatam), (6) those that are mortgaged (panasthitam), and (7) those that are temporarily kept in stables (yávatkálikam).

· He shall make a report (to the king) of such animals as are inauspicious, crippled, or diseased.

· Every horseman shall know how to make an economic use of whatever he has received from the king's treasury and storehouse.

· The superintendent shall have a stable constructed as spacious as required by the number of horses to be kept therein twice as broad as the length of a horse, with four doors facing the four quarters, with its central floor suited for the rolling of horses, with projected front provided with wooden seats at the entrance, and containing monkeys, peacocks, red spotted deer (prishata), mangoose, partridges (chakora), parrots, and maina birds (sárika); the room for every horse shall be four times as broad or long as the length of a horse, with its central floor paved with smoothened wooden planks, with separate compartments for fodder (khádanakoshthakam), with passages for the removal of urine and dung, and with a door facing either the north or the east. The distinction of quarters (digvibhága) may be made as a matter of fact or relatively to the situation of the building.

· Steeds, stallions and colts shall be separately kept.

· A steed that has just given birth to a colt shall be provided for the first three days with a drink of 1 prastha of clarified butter; afterwards it shall be fed with a prastha of flour (saktu) and made to drink oil mixed with medicine for ten nights; after that time, it shall have cooked grains, meadow grass, and other things suited to the season of the day.

· A colt, ten days old, shall be given a kudumba of flour mixed with ¼th kudumba of clarified butter, and 1 prastha of milk till it becomes six months old; then the above rations shall be increased half as much during each succeeding month, with the addition of 1 prastha of barley till it becomes three years old, then one drona of barley till it grows four years old; at the age of four or five, it attains its full development and becomes serviceable.

· The face (mukha) of the best horse measures 32 angulas; its length is 5 times its face; its shank is 20 angulas; and its height is 4 times its shank.

· Horses of medium and lower sizes fall short of the above measurement by two and three angulas respectively.

· The circumference (parínáha) of the best horse measures 100 angulas, and horses of medium and lower sizes fall short of the above measurement by five parts (panchabhágávaram).

· For the best horse (the diet shall be) 2 dronas of any one of the grains, rice (sáli, vríhi,) barley, panic seeds (priyangu) soaked or cooked, cooked mudga (Phraseolus Munga) or másha (Phraseolus Radiatus); one prastha of oil, 5 palas of salt, 50 palas of flesh, 1 ádhaka of broth (rasa) or 2 ádhakas of curd, 5 palas of sugar (kshára), to make their diet relishing, 1 prastha of súrá, liquor, or 2 prasthas of milk.

· The same quantity of drink shall be specially given to those horses which are tired of long journey or of carrying loads.

· One prastha of oil for giving enema (anuvásana), 1 kudumba of oil for rubbing over the nose, 1,000 palas of meadow grass, twice as much of ordinary grass (trina); and hay-stalk or grass shall be spread over an area of 6 aratnis.

· The same quantity of rations less by one-quarter for horses of medium and lower size.

· A draught horse or stallion of medium size shall be given the same quantity as the best horse; and similar horses of lower size shall receive the same quantity as a horse of medium size.

· Steeds and párasamas shall have one quarter less of rations.

· Half of the rations given to steeds shall be given to colts.

· Thus is the distribution of ration dealt with.

· Those who cook the food of horses, grooms, and veterinary surgeons shall have a share in the rations (pratisvádabhajah).

· Stallions which are incapacitated owing to old age, disease or hardships of war, and, being therefore rendered unfit for use in war live only to consume food shall in the interests of citizens and country people be allowed to cross steeds.

· The breed of Kámbhoja, Sindhu, Aratta, and Vanáyu countries are the best; those of Báhlíka, Pápeya, Sauvira, and Taitala, are of middle quality; and the rest ordinary (avaráh).

· These three sorts may be trained either for war or for riding according as they are furious (tíkshna), mild (bhadra), or stupid or slow (manda).

· The regular training of a horse is its preparation for war (sánnáhyam karma).

· Circular movement (valgana), slow movement (níchairgata), jumping (langhana), gallop (dhorana), and response to signals (nároshtra) are the several forms of riding (aupaváhya).

· Aupavenuka, vardhmánaka, yamaka, álídhapluta, vrithatta and trivacháli are the varieties of circular movement (valgana).

· The same kind of movements with the head and ear kept erect are called slow movements.

· These are performed in sixteen ways:---

· Prakírnaka, prakírnottara, nishanna, pársvánuvritta, úrmimárga, sarabhakrídita, sarabhapluta, tritála, báhyánuvritta, panchapáni, simháyata, svádhúta, klishta, slághita, brimhita, pushpábhikírna.

· Jumping like a monkey (kapipluta), jumping like a frog (bhekapluta), sudden jump (ekapluta), jumping with one leg (ekapádapluta), leaping like a cuckoo (kokila-samchári), dashing with its breast almost touching the ground (urasya), and leaping like a crane (bakasamchari) are the several forms of jumping.

· Flying like a vulture (kánka), dashing like a water-duck (várikánaka), running like a peacock (máyúra) halt the speed of a peacock (ardhmáyúra), dashing like a mangoose (nákula), half the speed of a mangoose (ardha-nákula), running like a hog (váráha) and half the speed of a hog (ardha- váráha) are the several forms of gallop.

· Movement following a signal is termed nároshtra.

· Six, nine, and twelve yojanas (a day) are the distances (to be traversed) by carriage-horses.

· Five, eight, and ten yojanas are the distances (to be traversed) by riding horses (prishthaváhya).

· Trotting according to its strength (vikrama), trotting with good breathing (bhadrásvása), and pacing with a load on its back are the three kinds of trot.

· Trotting according to strength (vikrama), trot combined with circular movement (valgita), ordinary trot (upakantha), middlemost speed (upajava), and ordinary speed are also the several kinds of trot (dhárá).

· Qualified teachers shall give instructions as to the manufacture of proper ropes with which to tether the horses.

· Charioteers shall see to the manufacture of necessary war accoutrements of horses.

· Veterinary surgeons shall apply requisite remedies against undue growth or diminution in the body of horses and also change the diet of horses according to changes in seasons.

· Those who move the horses (sútragráhaka), those whose business is to tether them in stables, those who supply meadow-grass, those who cook the grains for the horses, those who keep watch in the stables, those who groom them and those who apply remedies against poison shall satisfactorily discharge their specified duties and shall, in default of it, forfeit their daily wages.

· Those who take out for the purpose of riding such horses as are kept inside (the stables) either for the purpose of waving lights (nirájana) or for medical treatment shall be fined 12 panas.

· When, owing to defects in medicine or carelessness in the treatment, the disease (from which a horse is suffering) becomes intense, a fine of twice the cost of the treatment shall be imposed; and when, owing to defects in medicine, or not administering it, the result becomes quite the reverse, a fine equal to the value of the animal (patramúlya) shall be imposed.

· The same rule shall apply to the treatment of cows, buffaloes, goats, and sheep.

· Horses shall be washed, bedaubed with sandal powder, and garlanded twice a day. On new moon days sacrifice to Bhútas, and on full moon days the chanting of auspicious hymns shall be performed. Not only on the ninth day of the month of Asvayuja, but also both at the commencement and close of journeys (yátra) as well as in the time of disease shall a priest wave lights invoking blessings on the horses.

[Thus ends Chapter XXX, "The Superintendent of Horses" in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents," of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the fifty-first chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXXI. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF ELEPHANTS.

· THE Superintendent of elephants shall take proper steps to protect elephant-forests and supervise the operations with regard to the standing or lying in stables of elephants, male, female, or young, when they are tired after training, and examine the proportional quantity of rations and grass, the extent of training given to them, their accoutrements and ornaments, as well as the work of elephant-doctors, of trainers of elephants in warlike feats, and of grooms, such as drivers, binders and others.

· There shall be constructed an elephant stable twice as broad and twice as high as the length (áyáma) of an elephant, with separate apartments for female elephants, with projected entrance (sapragrívám), with posts called kumári, and with its door facing either the east or the north.

· The space in front of the smooth posts (to which elephants are tied) shall form a square, one side of which is equal to the length of an elephant and shall be paved with smooth wooden planks and provided with holes for the removal of urine and dung.

· The space where an elephant lies down shall be as broad as the length of an elephant and provided with a flat form raised to half the height of an elephant for leaning on.

· Elephants serviceable in war or for riding shall be kept inside the fort; and those that are still being tamed or are of bad temper shall be kept outside.

· The first and the seventh of the eight divisions of the day are the two bathing times of elephants; the time subsequent to those two periods is for their food; forenoon is the time for their exercise; afternoon is the time for drink; two (out of eight) parts of the night are the time for sleep; one-third of the night is spent in taking wakeful rest.

· The summer is the season to capture elephants.

· That which is 20 years old shall be captured.

· Young elephants (bikka), infatuated elephants (mugdha), elephants without tusks, diseased elephants, elephants which suckle their young ones (dhenuká), and female elephants (hastiní) shall not be captured.

· (That which is) seven aratnis in height, nine aratnis in length, ten aratnis in circumference and is (as can be inferred from such measurement), 40 years old, is the best.

· That which is 30 years old is of middle class; and that which is 25 years old is of the lowest class.

· The diet (for the last two classes) shall be lessened by one-quarter according to the class.

· The rations for an elephant (of seven aratnis in height) shall be 1 drona of rice, ½ ádhaka of oil, 3 prasthas of ghi, 10 palas of salt, 50 palas of flesh, 1 ádhaka of broth (rasa) or twice the quantity (i.e., 2 ádhakas) of curd; in order to render the dish tasteful, 10 palas of sugar (kshára), 1 ádhaka of liquor, or twice the quantity of milk (payah) ; 1 prastha of oil for smearing over the body, 1/8 prastha (of the same) for the head and for keeping a light in the stables; 2 bháras of meadow grass, 2¼ bháras of ordinary grass (sashpa), and 2½ bháras of dry grass and any quantity of stalks of various pulses (kadankara).

· An elephant in rut (atyarála) and of 8 aratnis in height shall have equal rations with that of 7 aratnis in height.

· The rest of 6 or 5 aratnis in height shall be provided with rations proportional to their size.

· A young elephant (bikka) captured for the mere purpose of sporting with it shall be fed with milk and meadow grass.

· That which is blood-red (samjátalóhita), that which is fleshed, that which has its sides evenly grown (samaliptapakshá), that which has its girths full or equal (samakakshyá), that whose flesh is evenly spread, that which is of even surface on its back (samatalpatala) and that which is of uneven surface (játadróniká) are the several kinds of physical splendour of elephants.

· Suitably to the seasons as well as to their physical spendour, elephants of sharp or slow sense (bhadra and mandra) as well as elephants possessed of the characteristics of other beasts shall be trained and taught suitable work.

[Thus ends Chapter XXXI, “The Superintendent of Elephants” in Book II, “The Duties of Government Superintendents” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the fifty-second chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXXII. TRAINING OF ELEPHANTS.

· ELEPHANTS are classified into four kinds in accordance with the training they are given: that which is tameable (damya), that which is trained for war (sánnáhya), that which is trained for riding (aupaváhya), and rogue elephants (vyála).

· Those which are tameable fall under five groups: that which suffers a man to sit on its withers (skandhagata), that which allows itself to be tethered to a post (stambhagata), that which can be taken to water (várigata), that which lies in pits (apapátagata), and that which is attached to its herd (yúthagata).

· All these elephants shall be treated with as much care as a young elephant (bikka).

· Military training is of seven kinds: Drill (upasthána), turning (samvartana), advancing (samyána), trampling down and killing (vadhávadha), fighting with other elephants (hastiyuddha), assailing forts and cities (nágaráyanam), and warfare.

· Binding the elephants with girths (kakshyákarma), putting on collars (graiveyakakarma), and making them work in company with their herds (yúthakarma) are the first steps (upa-vichara) of the above training.

· Elephants trained for riding fall under seven groups: that which suffers a man to mount over it when in company with another elephant (kunjaropaváhya), that which suffers riding when led by a warlike elephant (sánnáhyopaváhya), that which is taught trotting (dhorana), that which is taught various kinds of movements (ádhánagatika), that which can be made to move by using a staff (yashtyupaváhya), that which can be made to move by using an iron hook (totropaváhya), that which can be made to move without whips (suddhopaváhya), and that which is of help in hunting.

· Autumnal work (sáradakarma), mean or rough work (hínakarma), and training to respond to signals are the first steps for the above training.

· Rogue elephants can be trained only in one way. The only means to keep them under control is punishment. It has a suspicious aversion to work, is obstinate, of perverse nature, unsteady, willful, or of infatuated temper under the influence of rut.

· Rogue elephants whose training proves a failure may be purely roguish (suddha), clever in roguery (suvrata), perverse (vishama), or possessed of all kinds of vice.

· The form of fetters and other necessary means to keep them under control shall be ascertained from the doctor of elephants.

· Tetherposts (álána), collars, girths, bridles, legchains, frontal fetters are the several kinds of binding instruments.

· A hook, a bamboo staff, and machines (yantra) are instruments.

· Necklaces such as vaijavantí and kshurapramála, and litter and housings are the ornaments of elephants.

· Mail-armour (varma), clubs (totra), arrow-bags, and machines are war-accoutrements.

· Elephant doctors, trainers, expert riders, as well as those who groom them, those who prepare their food, those who procure grass for them, those who tether them to posts, those who sweep elephant stables, and those who keep watch in the stables at night, are some of the persons that have to attend to the needs of elephants.

· Elephant doctors, watchmen, sweepers, cooks and others shall receive (from the storehouse,) 1 prastha of cooked rice, a handful of oil, land 2 palas of sugar and of salt. Excepting the doctors, others shall also receive 10 palas of flesh.

· Elephant doctors shall apply necessary medicines to elephants which, while making a journey, happen to suffer from disease, overwork, rut, or old age.

· Accumulation of dirt in stables, failure to supply grass, causing an elephant to lie down on hard and unprepared ground, striking on vital parts of its body, permission to a stranger to ride over it, untimely riding, leading it to water through impassable places, and allowing it to enter into thick forests are offences punishable with fines. Such fines shall be deducted from the rations and wages due to the offenders.

· During the period of Cháturmásya (the months of July, August, September and October) and at the time when two seasons meet, waving of lights shall be performed thrice. Also on new-moon and full-moon days, commanders shall perform sacrifices to Bhútas for the safety of elephants.

· Leaving as much as is equal to twice the circumference of the tusk near its root, the rest of the tusks shall be cut off once in 2½ years in the case of elephants born in countries irrigated by rivers (nadija), and once in 5 years in the case of mountain elephants.

[Thus ends Chapter XXXII, “The Training of Elephants” in Book II, “The Duties of Government Superintendents” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the fifty-third chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXXIII. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF CHARIOTS; THE SUPERINTENDENT OF INFANTRY AND THE DUTY OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.

· THE functions of the Superintendent of horses will explain those of the Superintendent of chariots.

· The Superintendent of chariots shall attend to the construction of chariots.

· The best chariot shall measure 10 purushas in height (,i.e., 120 angulas), and 12 purushas in width. After this model, 7 more chariots with width decreasing by one purusha successively down to a chariot of 6 purushas in width shall be constructed. He shall also construct chariots of gods (devaratha), festal chariots (pushyaratha), battle chariots (sángrámika), travelling chariots (páriyánika), chariots used in assailing an enemy's strong-holds (parapurabhiyánika), and training chariots.

· He shall also examine the efficiency in the training of troops in shooting arrows, in hurling clubs and cudgels, in wearing mail armour, in equipment, in charioteering, in fighting seated on a chariot, and in controlling chariot horses.

· He shall also attend to the accounts of provision and wages paid to those who are either permanently or temporarily employed (to prepare chariots and other things). Also he shall take steps to maintain the employed contented and happy by adequate reward (yogyarakshanushthánam), and ascertain the distance of roads.

· The same rules shall apply to the superintendent of infantry.

· The latter shall know the exact strength or weakness of hereditary troops (maula), hired troops (bhrita), the corporate body of troops (sreni), as well as that of the army of friendly or unfriendly kings and of wild tribes.

· He shall be thoroughly familiar with the nature of fighting in low grounds, of open battle, of fraudulent attack, of fighting under the cover of entrenchment (khanakayuddha), or from heights (ákásayuddha), and of fighting during the day and night, besides the drill necessary for such warfare.

· He shall also know the fitness or unfitness of troops on emergent occasions.

· With an eye to the position which the entire army (chaturangabala) trained in the skillful handling of all kinds of weapons and in leading elephants, horses, and chariots have occupied and to the emergent call for which they ought to be ready, the commander-in-chief shall be so capable as to order either advance or retreat (áyogamayógam cha).

· He shall also know what kind of ground is more advantageous to his own army, what time is more favourable, what the strength of the enemy is, how to sow dissension in an enemy's army of united mind, how to collect his own scattered forces, how to scatter the compact body of an enemy's army, how to assail a fortress, and when to make a general advance.

Being ever mindful of the discipline which his army has to maintain not merely in camping and marching, but in the thick of battle, he shall designate the regiments (vyúha) by the names of trumpets, boards, banners, or flags.

[Thus ends Chapter XXXIII, "The Superintendent of Chariots, the Superintendent of Infantry, and the Duties of the Commander-in-Chief " in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents" of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the fifty-fourth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXXIV. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PASSPORTS.

· THE Superintendent of Passports shall issue passes at the rate of a masha per pass. Whoever is provided with a pass shall be at liberty to enter into, or go out of, the country. Whoever, being a native of the country enters into or goes out of the country without a pass shall be fined 12 panas. He shall be punished with the first amercement for producing a false pass. A foreigner guilty of the same offence shall be punished with the highest amercement.

· The superintendent of pasture lands shall examine passes.

· Pasture grounds shall be opened between any two dangerous places.

· Valleys shall be cleared from the fear of thieves, elephants, and other beasts.

· In barren tracts of the country, there shall be constructed not only tanks, buildings for shelter, and wells, but also flower gardens and fruit gardens.

· Hunters with their hounds shall reconnoitre forests. At the approach of thieves or enemies, they shall so hide themselves by ascending trees or mountains as to escape from the thieves, and blow conch-shells or beat drums. As to the movements of enemies or wild tribes, they may send information by flying the pigeons of royal household with passes (mudrá) or causing fire and smoke at successive distances.

· It shall be his duty to protect timber and elephant forests, to keep roads in good repair, to arrest thieves, to secure the safety of mercantile traffic, to protect cows, and to conduct the transaction of the people.

[Thus ends Chapter XXXIV, "The Superintendent of Passports, and the Superintendent of Pasture Lands," in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents," of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the fifty-fifth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXXV. THE DUTY OF REVENUE-COLLECTORS; SPIES IN THE GUISE OF HOUSEHOLDERS, MERCHANTS AND ASCETICS.

· HAVING divided the kingdom (janapada) into four districts, and having also subdivided the villages (gráma) as of first, middle and lowest rank, he shall bring them under one or another of the following heads:---Villages that are exempted from taxation (pariháraka); those that supply soldiers (áyudhíya); those that pay their taxes in the form of grains, cattle, gold (hiranya), or raw material (kupya); and those that supply free labour (vishti), and dairy produce in lieu of taxes (karapratikara).

· It is the duty of Gopa, village accountant, to attend to the accounts of five or ten villages as ordered by the Collector-General.

· By setting up boundaries to villages, by numbering plots of grounds as cultivated, uncultivated, plains, wet lands, gardens, vegetable gardens, fences (váta), forests, altars, temples of gods, irrigation works, cremation grounds, feeding houses (sattra), places where water is freely supplied to travellers (prapá), places of pilgrimage, pasture grounds and roads, and thereby fixing the boundaries of various villages, of fields, of forests, and of roads, he shall register gifts, sales, charities, and remission of taxes regarding fields.

· Also having numbered the houses as taxpaying or non-taxpaying, he shall not only register the total number of the inhabitants of all the four castes in each village, but also keep an account of the exact number of cultivators, cow-herds, merchants, artizans, labourers, slaves, and biped and quadruped animals, fixing at the same time the amount of gold, free labour, toll, and fines that can be collected from it (each house).

· He shall also keep an account of the number of young and old men that reside in each house, their history (charitra), occupation (ájíva), income (áya), and expenditure (vyaya).

· Likewise Sthánika, district officer, shall attend to the accounts of one quarter of the kingdom.

· In those places which are under the jurisdiction of Gopa and Sthánika, commissioners (prodeshtárah) specially deputed by the Collector-general shall not only inspect the work done and the means employed by the village and district officers, but also collect the special religious tax known as bali (balipragraham kuryuh).

· Spies under the disguise of householders (grihapatika, cultivators) who shall be deputed by the collector-general for espionage shall ascertain the validity of the accounts (of the village and district officers) regarding the fields, houses and families of each village---the area and output of produce regarding fields, right of ownership and remission of taxes with regard to houses, and the caste and profession regarding families.

· They shall also ascertain the total number of men and beasts (janghágra) as well as the amount of income and expenditure of each family.

· They shall also find out the causes of emigration and immigration of persons of migratory habit, the arrival and departure of men and women of condemnable (anarthya) character, as well as the movements of (foreign) spies.

· Likewise spies under the guise of merchants shall ascertain the quantity and price of the royal merchandise such as minerals, or products of gardens, forests, and fields or manufactured articles.

· As regards foreign merchandise of superior or inferior quality arriving thither by land or by water, they shall ascertain the amount of toll, road-cess, conveyance-cess, military cess, ferry-fare, and one-sixth portion (paid or payable by the merchants), the charges incurred by them for their own subsistence, and for the accommodation of their merchandise in warehouse (panyágára).

· Similarly spies under the guise of ascetics shall, as ordered by the Collector-general, gather information as to the proceedings, honest or dishonest, of cultivators, cow-herds, merchants, and heads of Government departments.

· In places where altars are situated or where four roads meet, in ancient ruins, in the vicinity of tanks, rivers, bathing places, in places of pilgrimage and hermitage, and in desert tracts, mountains, and thick grown forests, spies under the guise of old and notorious thieves with their student bands shall ascertain the causes of arrival and departure, and halt of thieves, enemies, and persons of undue bravery.

· The Collector-general shall thus energetically attend to the affairs of the kingdom. Also his subordinates constituting his various establishments of espionage shall along with their colleagues and followers attend to their duties likewise.

[Thus ends Chapter XXXV, "The Duty of revenue collectors; spies under the guise of house-holders, merchants, and ascetics," in Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents" of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the fifty-sixth chapter from the beginning.]

CHAPTER XXXVI. THE DUTY OF A CITY SUPERINTENDENT.

· LIKE the Collector-general, the Officer in charge of the Capital City (Nágaraka) shall look to the affairs of the capital.

· A Gopa shall keep the accounts of ten households, twenty households, or forty households. He shall not only know the caste, gotra, the name, and occupation of both men and women in those households, but also ascertain their income and expenditure.

· Likewise, the officer known as Sthánika shall attend to the accounts of the four quarters of the capital.

· Managers of charitable institutions shall send information (to Gopa or Sthánika) as to any heretics (Páshanda) and travellers arriving to reside therein. They shall allow ascetics and men learned in the Vedas to reside in such places only when those persons are known to be of reliable character.

· Artisans and other handicraftsmen may, on their own responsibility, allow others of their own profession to reside where they carry on their own work (i.e., in their own houses).

· Similarly merchants may on their own responsibility allow other merchants to reside where they themselves carry on their mercantile work (i.e., their own houses or shops).

· They (the merchants) shall make a report of those who sell any merchandise in forbidden place or time, as well as of those who are in possession of any merchandise other than their own.

· Vintners, sellers of cooked flesh and cooked rice as well as prostitutes may allow any other person to reside with them only when that person is well-known to them.

· They (vintners, etc.) shall make a report of spendthrifts and fool-hardy persons who engage themselves in risky undertakings.

· Any physician who undertakes to treat in secret a patient suffering from ulcer or excess of unwholesome food or drink, as well as the master of the house (wherein such treatment is attempted) shall be innocent only when they (the physician and the master of the house) make a report of the same to either Gopa or Sthánika; otherwise both of them shall be equally guilty with the sufferer.

· Masters of houses shall make a report of strangers arriving at, or departing from their houses; otherwise they shall be guilty of the offence (theft, etc.) committed during that night. Even during safe nights (i.e., nights when no theft, etc., seems to have been committed), they shall be fined 3 panas (for not making such a report).

· Wayfarers going along a high road or by a foot path shall catch hold of any person whom they find to be suffering from a wound or ulcer, or possessed of destructive instruments, or tired of carrying a heavy load, or timidly avoiding the presence of others, or indulging in too much sleep, or fatigued from a long journey, or who appears to be a stranger to the place in localities such as inside or outside the capital, temples of gods, places of pilgrimage, or burial grounds.

· (Spies) shall also make a search for suspicious persons in the interior of deserted houses, in the workshops or houses of vintners and sellers of cooked rice and flesh, in gambling houses, and in the abode of heretics.

· Kindling of fire shall be prohibited during the two middlemost parts of day-time divided into four equal parts during the summer. A fine of 1/8th of a pana shall be imposed for kindling fire at such a time.

· Masters of houses may carry on cooking operations outside their houses.

· (If a house-owner is not found to have ready with him) five water-pots (pancha ghatínám), a kumbha, a dróna, a ladder, an axe, a winnowing basket, a hook (such as is used to drive an elephant), pincers, (kachagráhini), and a leather bag (driti), he shall be fined ¼th of a pana.

· They shall also remove thatched roofs. Those who work by fire (blacksmiths) shall all together live in a single locality.

· Each houseowner shall ever be present (at night) at the door of his own house.

· Vessels filled with water shall be kept in thousands in a row without confusion not only in big streets and at places where four roads meet but also in front of the royal buildings (rajaprigraheshu).

· Any house-owner who does not run to give his help in extinguishing the fire of whatever is burning shall be fined 12 panas; and a renter (avakrayi, i.e., one who has occupied a house for rent) not running to extinguish fire shall be fined 6 panas.

· Whoever carelessly sets fire (to a house) shall be fined 54 panas; but he who intentionally sets fire (to a house) shall be thrown into fire.

· Whoever throws dirt in the street shall be punished with a fine of 1/8th of a pana; whoever causes mire or water to collect in the street shall be fined ¼th of a pana; whoever commits the above offences in the king's road (rájamárga) shall be punished with double the above fines.

· Whoever excretes faeces in places of pilgrimage, reservoirs of water, temples, and royal buildings shall be punished with fines rising from one pana and upwards in the order of the offences; but when such excretions are due to the use of medicine or to disease no punishment shall be imposed.

· Whoever throws inside the city the carcass of animals such as a cat, dog, mangoose, and a snake shall be fined 3 panas; of animals such as an ass, a camel, a mule, and cattle shall be fined 6 panas; and human corpse shall be punished with a fine of 50 panas.

· When a dead body is taken out of a city through a gate other than the usual or prescribed one or through a path other than the prescribed path, the first amercement shall be imposed; and those who guard the gates (through which the dead body is taken out) shall be fined 200 panas.

· When a dead body is interred or cremated beyond the burial or cremation grounds, a fine of 12 panas shall be imposed.

· The interval between six nálikas (2 2/5 hours) after the fall of night and six nálikas before the dawn shall be the period when a trumpet shall be sounded prohibiting the movement of the people.

· The trumpet having been sounded, whoever moves in the vicinity of royal buildings during the first or the last yáma (3 hours ?) of the period shall be punished with a fine of one pana and a quarter; and during the middlemost yámas, with double the above fine; and whoever moves outside (the royal buildings or the fort) shall be punished with four times the above fine.

· Whoever is arrested in suspicious places or as the perpetrator of a criminal act shall be examined.

· Whoever moves in the vicinity of royal buildings or ascends the defensive fortifications of the capital shall be punished with the middlemost amercement.

· Those who go out at night in order to attend to the work of midwifery or medical treatment, or to carry off a dead body to the cremation or burial grounds, or those who go out with a lamp in hand at night, as well as those who go out to visit the officer in charge of the city, or to find out the cause of a trumpet sound (turyapreksha), or to extinguish the outbreak of fire or under the authority of a pass shall not be arrested.

· During the nights of free movement (chárarátrishu) those who move out under disguise, those who stir out though forbidden (pravarjitah), as well as those who move with clubs and other weapons in hand shall be punished in proportion to the gravity of their guilt.

· Those watchmen who stop whomever they ought not to stop, or do not stop whomever they ought to stop shall be punished with twice the amount of fine levied for untimely movement.

· When a watchman has carnal connection with a slave woman, he shall be punished with the first amercement; with a free woman middlemost amercement; with a woman arrested for untimely movement, the highest amercement; and a woman of high birth (kulastrí), he shall be put to death.

· When the officer in charge of the city (nágaraka) does not make a report (to the king) of whatever nocturnal nuisance of animate or inanimate nature (chetanâchetana) has occurred, or when he shows carelessness (in the discharge of his duty), he shall be punished in proportion to the gravity of his crime.

· He shall make a daily inspection of reservoirs of water, of roads, of the hidden passage for going out of the city, of forts, fortwalls, and other defensive works. He shall also keep in his safe custody of whatever things he comes across as lost, forgotten or left behind by others.

· On the days to which the birth star of the king is assigned, as well as on full moon days, such prisoners as are young, old, diseased, or helpless (anátha) shall be let out from the jail (bandhanâgâra); or those who are of charitable disposition or who have made any agreement with the prisoners may liberate them by paying an adequate ransom.

· Once in a day or once in five nights, jails may be emptied of prisoners in consideration of the work they have done, or of whipping inflicted upon them, or of an adequate ransom paid by them in gold.

· Whenever a new country is conquered, when an heir apparent is installed on the throne, or when a prince is born to the king, prisoners are usually set free.

[Thus ends Chapter XXXVI, “The Duty of a City Superintendent” in Book II, “The Duties of government Superintendents,” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya. End of the fifty-seventh chapter from the beginning. With this ends the Second Book “The Duties of Government Superintendents” of the Arthasástra of Kautilya.]

(My humble salutations to Sreeman R Shamasastry for the collection)

Category: ArthaShastra of Kautilya - Book 2 - Chapter 22 to 36

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Hindu Vedic Philosophy (The Paramardha Tattwam)

ArthaShastra of Kautilya - Book 2 - Chapter 22 to 36

Kautilya's Arthashastra

Translated by R. Shamasastry - 1915

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